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Novomessor Cockerelli
''Novomessor cockerelli'' is a species of ant in the subfamily Myrmicinae. It is native to the deserts of the Southwestern United States and Mexico. It lives in large underground colonies in which there is a single queen. The worker ants leave the nest daily to forage for seeds, plant material and dead insects. Description ''Novomessor cockerelli'' is a large brown ant with a blackish gaster, long legs and an elongated head. It can be recognised by the two distinctive spines on the propodeum. It can be distinguished from the rather similar '' Novomessor albisetosus'' by the shape of its head. It cannot sting but is very aggressive and has a powerful bite. Distribution and habitat ''Novomessor cockerelli'' is found in arid areas of the Southwestern United States including Texas and the Franklin Mountains, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California. It is also present in northern Mexico in the states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Durango, Coahuila and Nuevo León. Its typical hab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myrmicinae
Myrmicinae is a subfamily of ants, with about 140 extant genera; their distribution is cosmopolitan. The pupae lack cocoons. Some species retain a functional sting. The petioles of Myrmicinae consist of two nodes. The nests are permanent and in soil, rotting wood, under stones, or in trees.Goulet, H & Huber, JT (eds.) (1993) Hymenoptera of the world: an identification guide to families. Agriculture Canada. p. 224 Identification Myrmicine worker ants have a distinct postpetiole, i.e., abdominal segment III is notably smaller than segment IV and set off from it by a well-developed constriction; the pronotum is inflexibly fused to the rest of the mesosoma, such that the promesonotal suture is weakly impressed or absent, and a functional sting is usually present. The clypeus is well-developed; as a result, the antennal sockets are well separated from the anterior margin of the head. Most myrmicine genera possess well-developed eyes and frontal lobes that partly conceal the an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fouquieria Splendens
''Fouquieria splendens'' (commonly known as ocotillo (), but also referred to as buggywhip, coachwhip, candlewood, slimwood, desert coral, Jacob's staff, Jacob cactus, and vine cactus) is a plant indigenous to the Sonoran Desert and Chihuahuan Desert and Colorado Desert in the Southwestern United States (southern California, southern Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas), and northern Mexico (as far south as Hidalgo and Guerrero). While semi-succulent and a desert plant, Ocotillo is more closely related to tea and blueberries than to cactuses. For much of the year, the plant appears to be an arrangement of large spiny dead sticks, although closer examination reveals that the stems are partly green. With rainfall, the plant quickly becomes lush with small (2–4 cm), ovate leaves, which may remain for weeks or even months. Individual stems may reach a diameter of 5 cm at the base, and the plant may grow to a height of 10 m (33 ft). The plant branches very hea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trophic Egg
A trophic egg, in most species that produce them, usually is an unfertilised egg because its function is not reproduction but nutrition; in essence it serves as food for offspring hatched from viable eggs. The production of trophic eggs has been observed in a highly diverse range of species, including fish, amphibians, spiders and insects. The function is not limited to any particular level of parental care, but occurs in sub-social species of insects, such as the spider '' A. ferox'', as well as a few other species like the frogs ''Leptodactylus fallax'' and ''Oophaga'', and the catfish ''Bagrus meridionalis''. Parents of some species deliver trophic eggs directly to their offspring, whereas some other species simply produce the trophic eggs after laying the viable eggs; they then leave the trophic eggs where the viable offspring are likely to find them. The mackerel sharks present the most extreme example of proximity between reproductive eggs and trophic eggs; their viable offs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dufour’s Gland
Dufour's gland is an abdominal gland of certain insects, part of the anatomy of the ovipositor or sting apparatus in female members of Apocrita. The diversification of Hymenoptera took place in the Cretaceous and the gland may have developed at about this time (200 million years ago) as it is present in all three groups of Apocrita, the wasps, bees and ants. Structure Dufour’s gland was first described by Léon Jean Marie Dufour in 1841. Along with the spermatheca and the poison gland, it develops as an invagination of valves of the sternum. It empties at the base of the ovipositor in ants but into the dorsal vaginal wall in bees and wasps. The gland is lined by a single layer of Epithelium, epithelial cells which secrete substances into the hollow interior. Muscles round the opening of the duct may help control the outflow. Function The purpose of Dufour’s gland is to secrete chemicals, but the nature of the secretions and their function differs in various hymenopteran groups. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
